Submitted by Kacy Lee from Langley High School in Virginia
Ever since COVID-19 came to my state about a month ago, school's been cancelled for the rest of the school year, online classes are a mess, and I might be going insane from not leaving my neighborhood since the governor issued a stay at home order. However, I remember the first thing I thought about when school was cancelled until the start of my junior year wasn't how I missed out on so much and how I would be so socially isolated from others. My concerns went to that poor couple returning from Egypt on vacation, some of the first cases in Virginia, but most importantly went to my county's, and more locally, my school's seniors. Their graduation? Cancelled. Prom? Delayed. Senior banquet? Just a figment of one's imagination. Being on a video call with one of my graduating friends this year made it all too real. None of the class of 2020 would have a normal graduation or a normal transfer into college, and I just felt terrible for them knowing that they wouldn't quite get what they had been waiting for for the last four years. Not only had school-wide events been cancelled, any extracurricular or music related trips were also cancelled. My orchestra (me included) was planning a trip to Philadelphia (we actually would have left April 16, or the day that I am sitting here writing this). My Science Olympiad team was set to move on to States, an overnight trip at the University of Virginia. My school's choir was set on leaving for Iceland, and band was planning a fun trip to Disney World.
Every single event, cancelled. Albeit for a very justified cause, it's still sad that the graduating class this year won't be able to enjoy the fun that they had been anticipating for so long, especially after so much hard work in their high school careers.
Class of 2020, this is for you. All of you were absolutely incredible, and this pandemic does not mean your year was any less exhilarating than any other. It is sad, yes, but it doesn't mean that it was any less spectacular.
Kacy :)